Hate crime

Have you been affected by, or do you want to know more about, hate crime?

Hate crime is any incident that you think is motivated by someone’s prejudice or hostility towards you because of your race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, alternative subculture (the way you dress or your lifestyle) or because you’re transgender.

With hate crime it’s who you are, or who someone thinks you are, that motivates someone to commit a crime against you.

There are three types of hate crime:

physical assault
verbal abuse
incitement to hatred

Physical assault is when someone uses violence to physically harm you. Depending on the level of violence used, it might be common assault, actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm.

Verbal abuse is when someone uses threats, name-calling or offensive language towards you because of who you are. It can also be a form of harassment.

Incitement to hatred occurs when someone acts in a way that’s threatening and intended to stir up hatred. It could be words, pictures, videos, music or anything posted on websites.

Hate content includes:

messages calling for violence against a specific person or group
web pages that show pictures, videos or descriptions of violence against a specific person or group
chat forums where someone asks other people to commit hate crimes against a specific person or group

How you might be feeling

No one should be targeted because of who they are, because of who their friends or family are, or because of who someone thinks they are. We all have the right to live without fear, hostility and intimidation.

You might want to shrug it off, or it might’ve deeply affected you. You could be feeling:

unsafe
in constant fear of attack
disrespected
invisible, as if you don’t matter

However you’re feeling is normal and valid. Support is available to help you with whatever you’re going through. You don’t have to do it on your own.

If it’s only just happened, please see below for how to report it.

Get the help you need

If you’d like more information or support, contact us now.

As well as receiving help from us, you can also get support from other organisations and charities. See below or search our directory.

LetsEndHateCrime – Greater Manchester website providing information and support to victims of hate crime. There are different ways to report hate crime, including at third-party reporting centres (e.g. libraries, community centres and housing associations). See the local area links for centres in your area.

Tell MAMA: Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (MAMA) – Service that allows people from across England to report any form of anti-Muslim abuse and offers support to victims of anti-Muslim hate crimes.

Community Security Trust (CST) – A charity that protects British Jews from antisemitism and related threats. Call the 24-hour helpline on 0800 032 3263.

Galop – An LGBT+ anti-abuse charity that works with LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse and violence. Call the helpline on 0800 999 5428.

Irish Community Care – A reporting service for victims of hate crime in Greater Manchester who are part of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. Call 0161 205 9105 or email headoffice@irishcommunitycare.com.

How to report hate crime

You might not want to report a hate crime. But if you do decide to tell the police, they can investigate and stop it from getting worse – for you or for someone else. Even if you’re not sure if what happened is a crime, you can still report it, and the police will help.

In an emergency, phone 999.

To report a hate crime in a non-emergency, phone 101, visit Greater Manchester Police website or go to a police station to report in person.

You can anonymously report a hate crime online at True Vision. True Vision was set up by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and will pass your report on to your local police force.

You can also anonymously report a hate crime to the UK charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.

What if someone else thinks it’s a hate crime

You don’t need to personally perceive an incident to be hate related for it to be a hate crime. It’s enough if another person, for example a witness or a police officer, thought that the incident was hate related.

Find out more about hate crime

For more information on hate crime visit Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Watch this video created for Hate Crime Awareness Week (HCAW) where hate crime victims talk about their experiences. And this video about why the HCAW campaign is so important.